IBM has launched its latest iSeries server. Announced in the Middle East by Gerhard Hofer, sales manager for Middle East and Africa, the iSeries 890 is based on the 1.3 GHz Power 4 processor. IBM’s proprietary operating system OS 400/V5/R2 is also updated for the release and the i890 can now run up to 32 logical partitions.

“With self-managing systems that make this server incredibly straight forward to install and run, the new IBM eServer i890 offers our Middle East customers one of the world’s most powerful computing platforms that is also one of the cheapest to own,” said Hofer.

“Because it is based on open standards, which are combined with IBM’s unique mainframe technology, it has the flexibility to support numerous logical partitions, allowing many more expensive machines to be consolidated onto a single easy to manage server,” he added.

Available from mid-June, IBM hopes that features like capacity on demand and logical partitioning will make it attractive to businesses looking to consolidate servers. According to its research, 33% of existing customers used the built in capacity on demand function, and 44% have made use of the logical partioning technology.

Uzer Vora, iSeries product manager for the Middle East, pointed out that the iSeries is ideal for Web-enablement strategies as it has proven 99.9% uptime and the capacity on demand is built in and can be activated without the server or applications needing to be restarted.

He also mentioned that the iSeries now supports the 64-bit version of Linux to match the Power4 processor, which is the eighth generation of IBM’s 64-bit technology. The whole iSeries range comes with self-healing and maximising technologies as part of IBM’s Project Eliza technology.

Hofer added that it was not IBM’s goal merely to compete in the enterprise server space “but to be number one and with this announcement we have taken a step into the lead”.